Half Marathon Happiness!

Before I start.... I'm behind on my HNT rounds. I've been kind of flattened by an ugly stomach bug. I'm just starting to feel a bit better. I promise I'll be by to swoon over all your sexy fabulousness very soon!

*****

Starting line jitters... Oh, who am I kidding? They were starting line terrors.

What the hell am I doing here?

My heart was pounding, and I was sweating despite the chill at 7 am. I was in the middle of what I would later learn was about 14 000 runners - the largest number of people I've ever run with. The lady standing next to me was in a panic because she didn't know how to attach her timing chip to her shoe. Helping her settled my nerves a little.

National anthem sung, countdown counted, and we're off!

I had a particular song teed up on my iPod, one guaranteed to start me at the right pace. My biggest fear was going out too fast and burning myself out. I got into my race pace comfortably and settled in. Everything felt good... loose.

One thing I've discovered about runs over 10k is that I need to refuel during the run, so at the 8k and 14k marks, I slowed to a brisk walk and took in an energy bar. I was really pleased with how little I walked during the race - much less than I usually do while training!

There was a big, ugly hill about two thirds of the way in, and I ended up walking most of the way up it. Afterward I realized that I could have pushed a lot harder on that hill; but at the time, I was worried about blowing my wad (so to speak) on the uphill. I did make up a lot of time on the backside, so not too much damage done!

Home stretch!

With about 4 km to go, I looked at my watch and realized that I had a real shot at getting close to my ultimate goal time. That idea was a huge boost, and I really kicked it up a notch. This is also when things began to hurt, of course, but that barn door was wide open, and I was headed home with a vengeance!

There were a few runners who were near me throughout the race, and I was determined to get past them, and stay past them. Anyone who knows me, knows that I tend to be a teensy hyper-competitive, so once I passed someone in those last km's, I was damned if I was going to let them by me again. I think I did that last half km at a dead sprint. My last km was, by far, my fastest - something I'm very proud of.

Finish line... woooo - wobbly legs! And a medal!

In the end, it didn't seem like 21.1 km. It didn't feel like I had run for as long as I had. I was thrilled with my time, with how I felt throughout the run, and I rode that high all day. It was the best possible first half-marathon experience I could have hoped for.

I'll definitely be running more races. My plan is to stay tuned up over the summer with some 10k races, and run another half in the fall. This is something I never really believed I could do, so it feels like a huge accomplishment - and it's one I'm incredibly proud of!

I did it by myself, for myself, and I'm taking all the credit!